How to learn the prayer?

One learns the prayer in stages: first the ablutions, then the Fatiha and the great positions, movement by movement. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Pray as you have seen me pray" (al-Bukhari 631), and at the beginning, a step-by-step sheet placed before you suffices. What counts first is praying, not being perfect: even sitting or lying down if health requires it (al-Bukhari 1117), and Allah does not impose on a soul more than it can bear (Quran 2:286).

Learning the prayer: where to start

1. The minor ablutions (wudu): washing the hands, the mouth, the nose, the face, the arms, passing wet hands over the head and ears, washing the feet. Five minutes to learn, detailed in the French-language fiqh module of Moustaqim.
2. The Fatiha: the short surah of about ten lines recited standing in each unit of prayer. Memorize it with its translation: it is the heart of the prayer.
3. The positions: standing (recitation), bowing (glory to Allah), prostrating (twice per unit), sitting between the two prostrations. The whole lasts a few minutes.
4. The number of units: two for dawn, four for noon and mid-afternoon, three for dusk, four for night.

The step-by-step prayer for beginners

Keep a step-by-step sheet before you during the first prayers: each position, each formula with its transliteration and its translation. Print the page or keep it on your phone: it is the simplest method and it is permitted.

Prayer times

The five prayers are distributed over the day: dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, dusk and night. The exact times depend on your city and change every day: the prayer times module gives the precise hours for any city, with the day's calculation. At the beginning, first install one or two prayers a day at a fixed time, then add the others.

Learning the prayer: the rules that reassure

• "Pray as you have seen me pray" (al-Bukhari 631): the reference is simple, a model to imitate without doctrinal complexity.
• Ease in case of difficulty: to a sick companion asking how to pray, the Prophet (peace be upon him) answered: "Pray standing; if you cannot, sitting; if you cannot, on your side" (al-Bukhari 1117). The prayer adapts to the person, never the reverse.
• Effort, not perfection: Allah does not impose on a soul more than it can bear (Quran 2:286). A hesitant but constant prayer surpasses a perfect but abandoned prayer.
• The invocations after the prayer are said freely, including in one's own language, and collections of invocations like the prayer upon the Prophet module accompany the learning.